NTSB Factual Report

On August 16, 2018, about 1100 mountain daylight time, a Cessna R172E, N146AC, sustained substantial damage during a forced landing after takeoff from the Air Force Academy Airfield (AFF), Colorado Springs, Colorado. The instructor pilot and student pilot were not injured. The airplane was owned and operated by the United States Air Force under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as an instructional flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the flight, which was not on a flight plan. The flight was departing from AFF on a local instructional flight.

The instructor pilot reported that the preflight and runup were normal. He reported that the student pilot was flying the airplane during takeoff from runway 34 (4,480 ft by 75 ft, asphalt). The engine was operating properly with a fuel flow of about 14 gallons per hour and 2,800 – 2,900 RPM, and the engine sounded normal. The student pilot rotated about 60 mph. Initially, the pitch was high but then she lowered the nose to the horizon. The airplane attained about 100 ft above ground level; however, the airplane was not accelerating or climbing. The instructor pilot took the controls and lowered the nose, but the airplane continued to descend, and he turned 10° to the right to do a forced landing in a field. The airplane landed on its main wheels, but the nose landing gear jammed into the rough terrain and the airplane nosed over.

At 1058, the surface weather observation at AFF was: wind 360° at 9 knots; visibility 10 miles; few clouds at 17,000 ft; scattered clouds at 20,0000 ft and 22,000 ft; temperature 26° C; dew point 6° C; and altimeter 30.29 inches of mercury.